Asia 21 adheres to high standards set forth by the Asia Society's Global Compact and Core Principles. This set of principles and guidelines ensures the safeguarding and reinforcement of the initiative's mission, values, and reputation. 

Asia Society Global Compact

• We lead with trust and humility as we approach different nations, peoples, and points of view with respect.
• We seek to build bridges and understanding, shedding light rather than heat.
• We are bold and innovative and we embrace risk.
• We strive to be collaborative, impactful, and provide unique value in the context of agreed strategies and vision.
• We understand global not as the opposite of local, but as the intersection of different local aspects. Global is where there is a commonality among three or more centers.
• We communicate openly across the global network with an aim to share ideas, insights, and challenges in order to grow and improve. We actively engage and are responsive to our peers across the network, and value direct peer-to-peer communication with all global colleagues.
• We each own and are part of everything in the global network. We facilitate, celebrate, and share in everyone’s success.
• We act in the best interest of Asia Society and realize that follow through is as important as intent.

Asia Society Core Principles

• We are passionate about understanding and connecting Asia and the world.
• We revere the tradition of excellence at Asia Society, and how to uphold it in everything we do. We settle for nothing less than the highest-caliber work – whether in programs or operations.
• We provide a trusted, non-partisan space where both internal and external interactions are always tactful, respectful, and collegial. Collaborations are not just an occasional occurrence; they are our mode of operating.
• We work towards a common goal and are accountable to one another and our funders for achieving it. We craft our work to result in change and conscientiously measure whether we have achieved it, revising our work as needed.
• We believe that the best results can be achieved when we work across disciplines, geographies, and professions, increasing insights and creating opportunities for improving the world.
• We are intellectually curious and continually responsive to emerging needs in the fields in which we operate and how we might best address them, making sure our work remains relevant.
• While our work spans different disciplines, these principles apply to everything we do.